Lynn

Henning said this week she is nowhere near giving up her

quest to keep her dogs.

"I'm

going to keep on as long as I can," Henning said

after county commissioners last week denied her request

for an exception to a county ordinance that sets a

three-dog limit unless the owner gets a kennel license.

"I may

get beaten down," she said, "but I won't get

totally beaten down without a fight."

Henning

said she is consulting with the law firm Webb, Stuckey

and Lindsey in hopes of challenging the ordinance in

court. She also has contacted area television stations to

publicize her fight, and hopes to attract other dog

lovers to the cause, possibly putting together a protest

organization.

"I

feel like I'm in Hootersville instead of

Fayetteville," she said, expressing her frustration

with the law.

"Everybody

in the county should obey the law," said

Commissioner Greg Dunn before the group denied Henning's

request during the commission meeting last week.

In response

to Henning's questions about how she can find a new home

for eight of her 11 dogs, Dunn said, "that's your

problem to dispose of your animals."

Commissioners

said the law would be useless if they made exceptions,

and Henning's request for a variance so she can have a

kennel at her home can't be considered either, they

added.

Kennels are

allowed as "conditional uses" in several zoning

categories, including the agricultural-residential zone

that Henning's Malone Road property is in. She also

operates Covered in Bloom, a wholesale flower business,

on the site, and maintains a butterfly house.

But the law

requires that kennel runs and shelters be at least 300

feet from residential property next door, a requirement

that county officials say Henning's property cannot meet.

And the law

is clear: variances are not allowed for conditional uses.

"We

are bound by the law to do this right," said

commission Chairman Harold Bost. "We cannot make an

exception for an individual."

Henning

also asked the commissioners to consider changing the law

so that homeowners could have more pets if they pay a fee

for each animal over three.

"I'm

personally not willing to throw the ordinance out the

door," said Bost. "It is there to keep down

nuisances."

"We've

got too many problems in the county," agreed

Commissioner Herb Frady. "People have big problems

with animals."

Henning

said this week that dozens of people throughout the

county are in violation of the ordinance, and it should

be changed. "It is appalling to me that a county of

this type would have an ordinance that is so antiquated

and dictates the right to enjoy your pets," she

said.

"It's

just incredible to me," she added.

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